Nintendo 3DS is the Best Selling Console 3 Months in a Row

Nintendo’s 3D handheld had another great month this past July. For the third month running, the 3DS is the top selling console in the United States.

Nintendo chalks some of this success up to the smash hit first party title Animal Crossing: New Leaf selling more than 150,000 units in July. While Nintendo didn’t provide specific numbers, its press release boasts a 14 and 45 percent respective increase in 3DS hardware and software sales over the same time last year.

Even the Wii U had some positives, as New Super Mario Bros. U has surpassed 830,000 lifetime sales. That’s a definite boon for the struggling home console.

Check out the full press release below, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Nintendo 3DS is Best-Selling Video Game Platform for Third Straight Month

Nintendo 3DS continued to build momentum in 2013 and finished as the best-selling video game system in the U.S. for the third consecutive month. A strong second month for Animal Crossing: New Leaf helped sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware and software increase by 14 and 45 percent, respectively, over the same time frame last year.

Highlights for the month include:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf sold more than 150,000 combined physical and digital units in its second month on the market, bringing its lifetime total to more than 660,000 combined units.
The lifetime total for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for Nintendo 3DS surpassed 820,000 combined physical and digital units.
New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U surpassed 830,000 lifetime sales of combined physical and digital units.
EarthBound launched July 18 for the Virtual Console service on the Nintendo eShop for Wii U and is off to a great start. Only two eShop titles, New Super Luigi U and Pikmin 3, generated more consumer spend in the same time period since launch.
Nintendo 3DS and Wii U fans will have a lot to play this summer and through the rest of 2013. Starting with the recently released Pikmin 3 (Wii U, Aug. 4) and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (Nintendo 3DS, Aug. 11) and continuing with The Wonderful 101 (Wii U, Sept. 15), Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (Nintendo 3DS, Oct. 12), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U, October), Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U, November), The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo 3DS, November) and Super Mario 3D World(Wii U, December).

*Data regarding physical sales of games in July are from the NPD Group. Data regarding digital downloads of games and combined physical/digital life-to-date numbers are from Nintendo’s internal sales figures. All numbers are specific to the United States only.